Lunchroom not just for students

Cafe located in former Hecla school a true community effort

Cafe located in former Hecla school a true community effort

November 18, 2007|By Gretchen Mayer, gmayer@aberdeennews.com

HECLA - When you walk into the lunchroom at the Hecla school, you immediately notice little desks with coloring books, a chalkboard and the smell of food cooking. So what, you might ask - it's a lunchroom. But the Hecla school closed in 2002; most of the students now go to Britton. When the owners of the only cafe in Hecla decided to close, townfolk realized they needed to step up if they wanted an eating establishment. Having the cafe located in the old school was the brainchild of Hecla mayor Lloyd Trautmann. "When the school closed, the buildings were turned over to the town of Hecla," said Trautmann. The town paid in the neighborhood of $20,000 to renovate the old lunchroom. "It took more money than we'd planned," said Trautmann. "Regulations required we install a seamless vent and hood system and fire extinguisher system." The town also paid for new flooring, plumbing, ceiling tiles and furnishings and pays the heat and lights. Natural decor The cafe was decorated in - what else? - a schoolhouse theme and can seat about 70 people. Trautmann described how he'd spent part of last summer going to small towns looking for used equipment and booths from other restaurants. "The Britton Area Foundation and the Heartland Power Cooperative also gave donations," he said. "When the old cafe closed, we realized we needed a place for people to be able to go for a cup of coffee or food," said Hecla finance officer Gayle Lloyd. "So the town decided to make an offer to Jo Ann Landreth to manage the new cafe. Our mayor really got a good start on it, but when school started, I tried to stay on top of the renovations." When he's not busy as the town mayor, Trautmann is a science and math distance learning instructor with Dial Virtual School, based in Britton. Keeping the business going has truly been a community effort. When the cafe is busy, residents pitch in and do the dishes and pour coffee. Visitor impressed Trautmann described how one morning the cafe was pretty busy so some of the residents walked around pouring coffee and picking up dirty dishes. A pheasant hunter from North Carolina was so impressed that he insisted in cleaning off his own table. During a busy noon hour recently, the special was white bean chili. "Hi, Delwyn. We're having chili today. Want to try a taste?" asks waitress Jerena Sukut as the customer sat down to eat. "No, it's got beans in it," the customer replied. There's not many places where you can taste the food before you order it. There are also not many places that feature local recipes. The recipe for the white bean chili was submitted by a Hecla cook. As was a previously featured cheeseburger soup that proved to be popular. Lloyd recently dropped off three recipes - a vegetable soup hot dish, a recipe for chicken wild rice soup and one for apple cake. "I like to take a sample to Jo Ann," said Lloyd. "That way she can tell if it's something she thinks customers would like." A craft area The cafe even has an area where items created by local crafters are sold. Landreth has been operating Jo's Schoolhouse Cafe since Oct. 1. "We just served coffee and cookies until we got the go-ahead from the health inspectors," said Landreth. The cafe now serves a full menu, a Friday, Saturday, Sunday breakfast buffet, and noon lunch specials. "Two weeks ago the Saturday night special was prime rib and folks from Aberdeen drove all the way up to eat," said Trautmann. "This Saturday was Italian night and there were people standing in line to get to the buffet." Virginia Wagemann was Virginia Bernard when she graduated from Hecla High School in the '40s. Now living in Dickinson, N.D., Wagemann returned to Hecla to spend a few days and was impressed that someone was willing to take the risk to start up a business in a small town. "I ate there several times," Wagemann said. "Everyone was so friendly and the place was clean and the food was very good." Landreth, 55, who was born and raised in Hecla, has no formal chef training, "I just like to cook," she said. The cafe has about nine employees, most of them part-time. "My mother-in-law also works here," said Landreth. When her husband, Bob, isn't working at the Four Seasons Cenex, he too, pitches in. The cafe is currently open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. "I really have to give credit to the mayor and Gail Lloyd," said Landreth. "They worked so hard to get this whole thing going."